Spanish furniture brand Let’s Pause crochets the fibers of the fique plant of the Andes to create a lovely design collection of warm and organic lighting fixtures – NUS Lamps that celebrate the age-old crafts and skilled labor of the women that make them.
It all starts with this succulent plant with its fleshy stalks, fique (Furcraea andina) from which a hardy fiber can be extracted, the refined and glistening plant with which traditionally hammocks, nets, and coffee bags have been manufactured over the years. During the process, the expert hands of the women weave the fibrous thread of the fique using the crochet technique, following the elegant lamp designs of Let’s Pause. The series of lampshades NUS softly illuminates through a mesh that retains its original natural essence and tells the story of these highly respected and valued women.
The design collection of NUS lamps by the Spanish furniture brand is an homage to the old age craft and evokes traditional simplicity: a single thread and crochet stitch are enough to create the magic of a vegetable weave that allows the nuanced diffusion of light throwing suggestive shadows. The big and average sizes are available in four color options (white, light brown, copper, and black); while the small size is only offered in light brown color. All of them combine the strength of the vegetable fiber with the light organic weave of the crocheting work. In the style of a mesh, the look of the lampshade reminds of a skirt that is delicately strengthened by an aluminum structure of the same tone.
The word NUS means the knot, reflecting the knotting of the fique fiber in a manufacturing process that seeks to join cultures, bring women together, as well as looking for a way to breathe new life into age-old crafts and techniques. Since the very beginning, the motivation behind Let’s Pause involvement has been a love and passion for things made over time by the human hand with materials that respect natural cycles and the people who make them. Each of the pieces is created with care and has a unique character reflecting the lamp’s attractive and imperfect expression. The subtle irregularity of the crochet stitches frees the lamp from any rigid formality, lending it in fact movement and life.
Fique is extracted from the plant of the same name, through a combing process that moves the external part of the leaf, and thus only the fibers remain. Without any treatment, this fiber is naturally white when sourced from the higher leaves, which are normally tenderer while the lower leaves are more off white in color or light brown because they are more mature, almost touching the ground. The NUS lamps are expressed in these two organic colors, as well as a copper shade like wet sand or recently plowed earth, together with an anthracite dark grey hue that evokes a volcanic stone. The latter colors are obtained by coloring the white fiber.
The other feature of this lighting collection is the range of sizes with three different options for the lamps. The largest shade has a diameter of 60 cm and a height of 75 cm; the middle size is 42 cm in diameter and 58 cm in height; while the smallest is 25 cm in diameter and 31 cm in height.
For the crocheting process, the women require between twelve hours and two days, depending on the size of the lampshade. The option of working from home is given to each of them if that makes it easier to hold the family together. A coordinator looks after deliveries and supervises the work carried out.
The combination of raw and natural materials crafted with contemporary designs ensures that the NUS lamps are equally suitable for entrance lobbies of hotels and reception spaces as well as architectural houses, such as dining and living areas and other rooms, where their warm and valuable message regarding returning to nature can be appreciated.
To straighten any wrinkles that may appear, the lamp manufacturer – Let’s Pause recommends disassembling the lamps and using a steam iron with a cotton cloth between. For day to day cleaning all that’s needed is a damp cloth to wipe. Then just let dry with a steam iron. Each lampshade is delivered with a black textile cable of two and a half meters, a black lamp holder, and a black aluminum canopy for ceiling installation.
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